Tag: India’s North East

Clouds are strange. We spend most of our lives underneath them, at their mercy for rain and shine. During the rare hours that we float above them, we cannot stop but marvel at the giant floating mountains of white and grey which we see but not touch.

One place which is a must visit is Zemithang and onwards to Neyla and the Bhutan border. Zemithang is King Kong territory with majestic cliffs towering over the quaint little town. Fog & clouds hang over the cliffs and nearby river in perpetuity as if in a scene from an Amazon jungle movie. Surrounded by fog on the riverside one evening, I’ve never felt more along when among people. That places is your deepest thoughts etched out in 3D. The extremely lonely, scary and romantic tourist lodge on the other side of the river is the place to be with panning views of the valley.

His prematurely grey hair had hardened with the harsh cold winds he faced for the last forty five summers. His left eye had a patch of white and his face was full of wrinkles telling tales of people and places no one else had seen A large stud on one of his ears stood out as he put on a genuine but wry smile for the camera.

It is among the last remaining unexplored bastions of virgin nature in India. It is among those few places which still hasn’t found its place on the map. It is one of the most intriguing places left.

And yet.

It is a place most know nothing about even though its a part of India. Its a place whose mention only evokes images of international disputes. Its a place we talk about only when China says it wants it too. Its a place whose people are neglected even more.

I had planeed a maximum of 4 days in Sikkim. This is the smallest state in India. And guess what, I stayed here the longest. I stayed here for 10 full days. Yes, even J&K barely lasted that long. And that is 50 times bigger than Sikkim. Probably more. I scanned the very ends of the place. Extreme points where one could go on wheels. Two wheels. Two untracked wheels (if I had wheels with tracks like tanks, I would definitely have gone further). And it was great.

I woke up with a bad headache. All through last night, I was thinking. Very hard. All the people who had said earlier that touring alone was heavy on the mind and energy sapping had not mentioned just how tough it was to go on alone. On an on. Day after day. But that later.

Till yesterday night, I hadn’t realized that Gurudongmer Lake was over 125 kilometers away from Lachung. And that for covering that part, Lachen was a better place to make a base. One needed to return from the lake to the army base by afternoon to stay on the safe side of weather.

It was only after waking up today that I realized the Yumthang Valley I have heard so much about is only 28 kilometers away. That meant the trip will be over in about three hours with nothing to do for the rest of the day. For a town that sleeps at 8, thats a sobering thought.